On Friday night, the Pirates football team will travel to Buena to take on the Chiefs in the first round of the South, Group 2 Tournament. Here is our first round preview.
#5 Cinnaminson: 7-1
#4 Buena: 8-1
The Pirates are fresh off an impressive, 45-34 victory over previously undefeated Pemberton. All facets of the offense exploded in the victory as the Pirates led 28-12 at halftime.
Junior quarterback Shaun Davilla ran for two scores and threw for two more. Frank Stepnowski and Rashad Raymond both ran for touchdowns, while Devon Taylor and Stepnowski caught touchdown passes.
The defense once again stepped up, stopping the Hornets second half comeback attempt with three timely interceptions (two from Taylor and one from Kevin Schoch).
The Pirates enter the playoffs on a three-game win streak. Their lone loss in 2015 came against division rival Holy Cross, 34-33.
Cinnaminson has scored 276 points this year, including four games of 38 or more points scored. The defense has posted three shutouts to go along with allowing 121 points. The Pirates are averaging 34.5 points scored per game this year.
The Pirates have a high of 57 points this year and a low of 15. Both came in victories. The 57, against Lawrence, are the highest scored in a game during head coach Mario Patrizi’s tenure.
“We are excited to play Buena. Our kids have responded well all season and we anticipate a great effort tomorrow night,” Patrizi said ahead of the first round contest.
Davilla has a total of 24 touchdowns this season, 12 through the air and 11 on the ground. The 11 rushing touchdowns lead the team. He also has one punt return touchdown this year.
Taylor is the team’s leading receiver with eight touchdown catches. Stepnowski has five rushing touchdowns this year.
Buena comes into this first round game having won seven straight games. Their lone loss of the season was a 34-13 setback to Cedar Creek, the #3 seed in the SJ2 bracket.
Buena has scored 40 or more points in four games this season and have a total of 270 points scored. The Chiefs are averaging 30 points scored per game on offense. Their defense has posted two shutouts this year and allowed a total of 132 points.
The Chiefs have three different players with at least 400 rushing yards this year. They are Sam Crouch with 591, Quadir Albright with 567 and quarterback Tyler Rainear with 400. Albright has 11 rushing touchdowns on the season. Albright is also averaging 10.1 yards per attempt this season.
Buena’s two shutouts have come in their last three games, a 48-0 win over Pleasantville on October 23 and 42-0 win over Lower Cape May to end their regular season.
This is not the first meeting between the two teams, as the all-time series is tied at 2-2. The last meeting came in 2005 and saw the Pirates pick up a 26-25 victory in overtime of an NJSIAA consolation game.
